[Dave K]

Day 49: This week last year, the coldest minima were -30 °C or lower but we have yet to see even -20 °C so far this December. Today the "core" nations of Russia, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland each have two locations to make up the 10 points scoring positions. There is some more movement in the Top 10 locations but no positional changes in the nation's ranking.

---

---

Grímsstaðir is a settlement in north-east Iceland whose main claim to fame is that its weather station holds the low-temperature record for Iceland: no doubt due to its sheltered location (at altitude of about 400 metres) between two areas of highland (800 metres or more).

It is situated just off Route 1 (the main ring road around the island), where it crosses the large river Jökulsá á Fjöllum, about 37 km or 23 miles east of Lake Mývatn. The river was bridged in 1947: before that, traffic between north and east Iceland had to use a ferry.

Currently the settlement has some accommodation for tourists. It also has an airstrip, in common with many isolated rural settlements in Iceland. It is a recognised stop on the bus route between Akureyri and Egilsstaðir (up to one bus per day in summer) although it is only during summer that the buses venture off the main road to the settlement itself.

Quote

30 August 2011

A Chinese business tycoon is hoping to buy a large area of north-east Iceland to build a luxury hotel and eco-resort.

Huang Nubo is reported to have offered a billion krona (£5.4m: $8.8m) for the 300sq km (155 sq mile) Grimsstadir a Fjollum region.

Critics of the plan fear it could be used by China to gain a strategic foothold in Iceland.

But Icelandic officials have welcomed the purchase and the further 20bn krona Mr Huang says he intends to invest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...europe-14714524

This offer was subsequently rejected by Iceland's Ministry of the Interior in November BTW.

[Dave K]

Day 50: Nearly a sensation as parts of the UK had an ice day - unfortunately the lowest station of these Glen Ogle is still 64m above the altitude threshold so didn't make the cut

Still, as relatively mild conditions persist in northern Europe we have a new nation entering the scoring. Technically the Faroe Islands are part of Denmark but I will include them in their own right as they are isolated in the Atlantic. The cold must have spread down from Iceland which picks up another good batch of points to bridge the gap to the 4 nations above it in the national rankings. Grímsstaðir and Orenburg move up in the location rankings.

---

---

Tórshavn (Danish: Thorshavn) is the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the north west of the town lies the 347-metre (1,138 ft) high mountain Húsareyn, and to the southwest, the 350-metre (1,150 ft) high Kirkjubøreyn. The city proper has a population of 13,000 (2008), and the greater urban area a population of 19,000.



Tórshavn is the capital of the Faroe Islands, and as such is the seat of the Faroes’ home rule government. The government holds the executive power in local government affairs. Today the government is located on the Tinganes peninsula of Tórshavn. The parliament, the Løgting, which was originally located on Tinganes, was relocated to the town square in 1856.

The Vikings established their parliament on the Tinganes peninsula in 850 CE, thus Tórshavn was made capital of Faroe Islands and has remained so ever since. All through the Middle Ages the narrow peninsula jutting out into the sea made up the main part of Tórshavn. Sources do not mention a built-up area in Tórshavn until after the Protestant Reformation in 1539. Early on, Tórshavn became the center of the monopoly trade, thereby being the only legal place for the islanders to sell and buy goods. In 1856, the trade monopoly was abolished and the islands were left open to free trade. The town has grown rapidly ever since the turn of the 20th century into the undisputed administrative, economic and cultural center of the Faroes.

According to the earliest source to the Faroe Islands, Færeyinga Saga, emigrants who left Norway to escape the tyranny of Harald I of Norway settled in the islands about the end of the 9th century. The Viking settlers established their own parliament called ting. Local tings where established in different parts of the islands. The main ting was established on Tinganes in Tórshavn 825. Tinganes is the peninsula that divides the harbour into the two parts Eystaravág and Vestaravág. Færeyinga Saga says: "the ting stead of the Faroese was on Streymoy, and there is the harbour that is called Tórshavn". In the Viking Age it was a tradition to hold the ting at a neutral and thus uninhabited place, so nobody had an advantage of the location. In fact, there was no settlement at Tinganes to that time, but it was the most central place of the islands. The Vikings would meet on the flat rocks of Tinganes every summer. The Viking age eventually ended in 1035. The ting was followed by a market which gradually grew into a permanent trading area.

All through the Middle Ages, the narrow peninsula jutting out into the sea made up the main part of Tórshavn. It belonged to the outfield of two farmers. Although, unlike the rest of the Faroese villages, Tórshavn was never a distinct farming community. In 1271, a royal trade monopoly was established in Tórshavn by the Norwegian Crown. During the 12th century, all trade between Norway and the Faroes, along with other tributary islands to the west, became centralised in Bergen. According to a document from 1271, two ships would sail regularly to Tórshavn from Bergen with cargoes of salt, timber and cereal. Tórshavn therefore had more contact with the outside world than the other villages. Under the Norwegian and then later Danish rule, the government officials made Tórshavn their home. All of these things put together with the fact that Tórshavn was the thingstead of the islands influenced the town’s development in a different direction.

Sources do not mention a built-up area in Tórshavn until after the Protestant reformation in 1539. When pirate attacks became quite frequent in the Faroes it became a priority to protect the town and its trade. In ca. 1580 a small fort, Skansin, was built by the Faroese naval hero and trader Magnus Heinason at the north end of the harbour. Later small fortifications were built at Tinganes.

The British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II, also known as "Operation Valentine," was implemented immediately following the German invasion of Denmark and Norway. In April 1940, the United Kingdom occupied the strategically important Faroe Islands to pre-empt a German invasion. British troops left shortly after the end of the war.

Faroese (føroyskt), is an Insular Nordic language spoken by 48,000 people in the Faroe Islands and about 25,000 Faroese people in Denmark and elsewhere. It is one of four languages descended from the Old West Norse language spoken in the Middle Ages, the others being Icelandic, Norwegian and the extinct Norn, which is thought to have been mutually intelligible with Faroese. Faroese and Icelandic, its closest extant relative, are not mutually intelligible in speech, but the written languages resemble each other quite closely.

Due to the proximity to the Gulf Stream, Tórshavn features a well-moderated subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc), with chilly summers, and mild winters with temperatures usually not below freezing. The climate can be very unpleasant, however, owing to the persistent strong winds and extreme lack of sunshine. Tórshavn is the gloomiest place in the world with significant sunshine records at only about 2.4 hours of sunshine per day; however no data whatsoever exist for places such as the Aleutian Islands or southern Chile which may have even less sun.

Climate data for Tórshavn
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	6 (43)	6 (43)	7 (45)	8 (46)	10 (50)	12 (54)	13 (55)	14 (57)	12 (54)	10 (50)	8 (46)	7 (45)	9.4 (49.0)
Average low °C (°F)	2 (36)	1 (34)	2 (36)	3 (37)	5 (41)	7 (45)	9 (48)	9 (48)	8 (46)	5 (41)	4 (39)	3 (37)	4.8 (40.7)
Precipitation mm (inches)	149 (5.87)	136 (5.35)	114 (4.49)	106 (4.17)	67 (2.64)	74 (2.91)	79 (3.11)	96 (3.78)	132 (5.2)	157 (6.18)	156 (6.14)	167 (6.57)	1,433 (56.42)
Avg. precipitation days	25	22	23	22	16	16	18	20	21	24	24	26	257
Sunshine hours	15.5	42.3	77.5	114.0	136.4	141.0	108.5	102.3	81.0	58.9	21.0	6.2	884
Source: ClimateTempInfo[3]

Thorshavn is also home to Gudrun & Gudrun, now famous for making that sweater

This post has been edited by Big Dave's Gusset: 05 December 2011 - 19:01

[Dave K]

Day 51: Well I think if this was a network TV show I'd have had my cancellation for low viewing fugures by now - guess a few diehards are hanging on hoping it what I am doing will make some kind of sense by the end

At last December sees a minimum of -20 °C and as a result Grímsstaðir moves up to third in the locations ranking. Also Iceland continues to catch up with Finland in the nation's rankings after another not very cold day in the land of the 1 000 Lakes Rally. Amazingly the lowest minimum for Russia in Europe was just -9.4 °C at Amderma, a temperature well above what many locations have as an average maximum for December.

---

[Dave K]

Day 52: Today we have the coldest minimum outside of Russia since the start of the project, -25.6 °C at Nikkaluokta which was last year's location winner under different rules and is now back in the Top 10 after a long absence. However, a lower maximum at Tynset Ii in Norway means it gains most points today. Grímsstaðir may have been colder than the other two Icelandic locations but it hasn't reported in over 36 hours - hope it isn't broken.

Just the daily scores table today, will do the whole lot every other day perhaps.

---

[Dave K]

Day 53: Another good day for the pack to make up the deficit a little on Russia. Sweden's minima were a hangover from the cold of the previous morning but the Norway low readings - in the centre of the country rather than the far north - were this morning. Finland meanwhile still has only moderate cold. Grímsstaðir has started reporting again and with the first two in the location rankings being relatively mild for nearly two weeks it is catching up in third place. The UK seems to have missed it's chance although Aviemore might just get an ice day this weekend, but probably not cold enough to feature.

---

[Dave K]

Day 54: A good cold day for Norway, Sweden and Finland despite the fact that temperatures were rising quickly overnight. Still not quite enough to make up meaningful ground though on Russia in the nation's rankings. Two more really cold days for Grímsstaðir could push it into the top 2 of the locations ranking since NE European Russia should be well above average until Monday.

[Ian Williams]

Big Dave, on 06 December 2011 - 18:54, said:

Day 51: Well I think if this was a network TV show I'd have had my cancellation for low viewing fugures by now - guess a few diehards are hanging on hoping it what I am doing will make some kind of sense by the end

LOL, Im still watching! Regarding the 5th Tyndrum had an Ice day with a max of -0.4C, pity it isn`t a synop station though

[Dave K]

Thanks Ian, yes pity about Tyndrum - Tulloch Bridge was the closest eligible synop station to an ice day yesterday but I don't think either would have been cold enough to get in the scoring anyway.

Day 55: Just the table of daily scores again today, full roundup tomorrow. Sweden again becoming much less cold overnight but still managing to get the two scorers in. Iceland still doing rather well this month. In a hurry, oven timer is beeping - mustn't let my pizza get burnt...

[Dave K]

Day 56: Surprisingly, as we approach mid-December I could only find nine eligible station readings for ice days - other than Grímsstaðir Iceland had a slight warming yesterday and if there were any other ice days anywhere else I couldn't find them. A missed opportunity perhaps for the UK because any ice day for an eligible station would have completed the ten scoring slots.

[Dave K]

Day 57: A proper cold day over Sweden, Norway and Finland with Vajmat recording the lowest minima for an eligible station so far for any of these countries. Russia of course also has some severe cold and Sterlitamak rises 2 places in the top 10 as a result. Iceland didn't have a single ice day so after a trawl though virtually every nation in a still mildish continent today Slovakia provides the only other ice days I could find.

---

---

Stropkov (Yiddish: סטראפקאוו, Hebrew: סטרופקוב‎, Hungarian: Sztropkó) is a town in Stropkov District, Prešov Region, Slovakia.

Stropkov is an economical, social and cultural centre of north Zemplín. It was established on left bank of river Ondava in beautiful scenery of central part in Ondava uplands. For its origins as an ancient Slovak settlement we have to look back (and many archaeologists and historians agree in this case) before the 13th century. The character of the main square is a proof that Stropkov used to belong to the royal lands and there are also some similarities with the development of another town, called Bardejov.

First authentic written data about the town is from 1404 (Stropko), when Stropkov was already labeled as oppidum—townlet. German guests and soltys too were obtained with the same privileges as their fellows in Bardejov and other towns. The first owner of the town after the king was Ladislav Svatojursky. The other landlords in order were Balickovci, Perinskovci, Peteovci. In 1408 town's toll and castle—castellum—were mentioned for the first time. The development of the town and its whole economic expansion was supported by the law of thirty and market in 1698 which was strengthened by Leopold I[disambiguation needed ] with six annual fairs. Stropkov's manor owned about 51 villages in that time. The existence of a big department, which articles dated back in 1575 was an extraordinary event in the history of Slovakia. In this department many different people were united, for example: jewelers, tailors, butchers, cabinetmakers, saddlers, swordfishes, surgeons (shavers) and shopkeepers. Craftsmen from Stropkov were known not only in their hometown, they were selling their products in markets of towns in regions like Zemplin and Šariš as well.

In the process of successful development, Stropkov was touched by status’ rebellions of Imrich Thokoly and Francis II Rákóczi. We can easily deduct this fact from region list from year 1715, where it is written that in Stropkov in that times lived only 7 bourgeoises who did pay taxes. In 1764 Peteovci family died out, manor was divided into 6 parts, including Staraiovci, Hallerovci, Keglevicovci, Dezofiovci, Veceiovci and Barkociovci. In 1785 about 204 houses and 1326 inhabitants were to found in the town. Stropkov was the third town with the most numbers of residents in the Zemplin region with 87 craftsmen (year 1778) and it was the second important craftsman centre after Humenné town. In that period it became a residence of Zemplin chair. This situation lasted in next few years: 1848, 1918 and 1945, up until 1960. Since 18th century the town started to decay. In 1828 there were 201 houses and 2250 inhabitants. Many other numbers speak about the evident stagnation: in 1869 used to live there 2502 inhabitants while in 1900 only 2276. After 1870 we can speak about mass emigration of native people who were moving abroad.

During the time between wars Stropkov and its district belonged to one of the most underdeveloped and poorest regions in Slovakia. Besides agriculture, the living was earned by traditional craft industry and works in woods. In the years of the Second World War economical decline was fully in progress. Only 487 houses with 3311 inhabitants were filling the territory of Stropkov during the wartime. Besides the complicated after war situation it is visible that the construction of Tesla factory and many other firms have had an important contribution to essential changes in demography and in infrastructure. When only 2695 people in 1950 lived in town, in 1991 there were already 9719 people to be found.
The first written information about the school is from 1515, but indisputably the school was there a little bit sooner—in the previous century. In 17th century Franciscans came to the town and in 1921 the first redemptorist cloister was founded.

The remains of the castle are situated in the storied building that occupies the east side of the church. Roman Catholic church, called The Holy Body of Jesus Christ, comes from 14th century. In 1675 it was restored and supplemented with a Gothic castle chapel. The inside Baroque decoration is from 18th century. Uniate cathedral was built in 1947, Jewish synagogues have not been preserved.

[Dave K]

Day 58: Temperatures continued to drop in Sweden after 06Z yesterday and Nikkaluokta proceeded to record the lowest minimum outside Russia so far in the term of this project. Apart from the top 3 the locations tables sees some shuffling around again. Sweden makes up a tiny bit more ground on Russia in the nation's ranking but the gap looks to big to close up much. Once again I found only 9 places with eligible ice days.

The set of three tables today plus a summary of the lowest minima recorded by each of the five leading nations.

---

[Dave K]

Day 59: Some of the intense cold clung on in Sweden through last night but in general temperatures were on the rise in the north. The east, as opposed to more normal NE, of European Russia continues in deep freeze. Just the one scorer from Iceland and another difficult trawl to find a tenth scorer for the day but Kharkiv just crept in. No significant changes in any of the rankings.

---

This post has been edited by Big Dave's Gusset: 14 December 2011 - 18:42

[Dave K]

Day 60: Norway, Sweden and Finland continue to swing from bitter cold to rather mild (for the latitude and time of year!) and surprisingly the coldest minimum anywhere in the three countries on the synop network was -6.1 °C -and that at an ineligible mountain top site 1 200m asl. Most places minima were above -4 °C and many went above freezing so their were very few ice days indeed. Iceland cooled a little again and Grímsstaðir without being spectacularly cold continues to chip away at the gap to threaten the Russian locations in 1st and 2nd. Yet again after a thorough trawl around Europe I could find only 9 stations to claim any points.

---

[Dave K]

Day 61: Hard to believe that in mid December I could find only 5 stations with eligible ice days. Just the one from Norway, Sweden and Finland where the maximum temperatures were again unseasonally above freezing in a wide area. Grímsstaðir is edged out and so Orenburg is the big winner today as it moves to striking distance of the top 3 locations.

[Ian Williams]

Aviemore has done it Dave! First Ice Day

17.12.2011 08:00:00	-0,1	-0,6	4	2	-	-	NNW	1004,4	29	0
17.12.2011 07:00:00	-0,9	-1,4	2	1	-	-	SSW	1003,4	7	0
17.12.2011 06:00:00	-0,7	-1,3	2	1	-	-	WSW	1002,8	1,9	0
17.12.2011 05:00:00	-0,7	-1,5	4	2	-	-	SW	1002,3	3,6	0
17.12.2011 04:00:00	-0,7	-1,8	6	3	-	-	SSW	1001,8	45	0
17.12.2011 03:00:00	-1,2	-2,5	6	3	-	-	SW	1001,7	45	0
17.12.2011 02:00:00	-1,2	-2,9	7	4	-	-	SSW	1000,9	35	0
17.12.2011 01:00:00	-0,9	-2,4	13	7	-	-	WSW	1001,3	45	0
17.12.2011 00:00:00	-3,1	-4,0	4	2	-	-	SW	1001,5	30	-
16.12.2011 23:00:00	-2,9	-3,6	6	3	-	-	WSW	1001,1	35	0
16.12.2011 22:00:00	-3,0	-3,9	6	3	-	-	WSW	1000,9	30	0
16.12.2011 21:00:00	-3,4	-4,1	2	1	-	-	SSW	1000,4	23	0
16.12.2011 20:00:00	-4,6	-5,3	2	1	-	-	NNW	1000,0	24	0
16.12.2011 19:00:00	-5,2	-6,0	2	1	-	-	W	999,5	23	0
16.12.2011 18:00:00	-4,7	-5,4	4	2	-	-	SW	998,6	17	0
16.12.2011 17:00:00	-4,7	-5,4	2	1	-	-	SW	997,7	8	0
16.12.2011 16:00:00	-4,0	-4,8	2	1	-	-	W	996,5	21	0
16.12.2011 15:00:00	-3,2	-3,9	2	1	-	-	SSW	994,9	22	0
16.12.2011 14:00:00	-3,6	-4,3	2	1	-	-	S	993,9	11	0
16.12.2011 13:00:00	-4,5	-5,3	4	2	-	-	SW	992,8	9	6
16.12.2011 12:00:00	-5,9	-6,9	2	1	-	-	ONO	992,4	17	42
16.12.2011 11:00:00	-6,9	-7,8	0	0	-	-	N	991,1	8	18
16.12.2011 10:00:00	-8,6	-10,0	0	0	-	-	N	990,4	21	0
16.12.2011 09:00:00	-8,5	-9,8	2	1	-	-	WNW	989,5	20	0
16.12.2011 08:00:00	-8,3	-9,6	2	1	-	-	SW	988,6	21	0
16.12.2011 07:00:00	-8,3	-9,6	2	1	-	-	SSW	988,2	25	0
16.12.2011 06:00:00	-8,2	-9,5	2	1	-	-	NNO	987,6	24	0

[Dave K]

Aviemore a bona fide ice day, great! Now we just have to hope that Northern Europe hasn't cooled down again...

This post has been edited by Big Dave's Gusset: 17 December 2011 - 09:58

[Dave K]

Day 62: YAY! Aviemore manages to beat the coldest Finnish stations to claim the UK's first ever Icebox Europe points Not only that but the UK is the 19th nation now to gain a score and jumps in at 16th in the nation's ranking. Elsewhere Vorkuta loses 2nd place after three weeks with no points and Orenburg is now in 2nd.

---

[Ian Williams]

Big Dave, on 17 December 2011 - 18:53, said:

Day 62: YAY! Aviemore manages to beat the coldest Finnish stations to claim the UK's first ever Icebox Europe points Not only that but the UK is the 19th nation now to gain a score and jumps in at 16th in the nation's ranking. Elsewhere Vorkuta loses 2nd place after three weeks with no points and Orenburg is now in 2nd.

---

2011-12-17_tables.png

Nice one! If we had the temps of last year in your new format i wonder how the UK would of faired? Especially as much of northern and eastern Europe was very cold too. GO U.K!

[Dave K]

Day 63: No joy for the UK today. Grímsstaðir is up into 2nd place and it's starting to get tight at the top...

[Dave K]

Day 64: Spadeadam nearly had an ice day with a max of only 0.2 °C to 06Z but it wouldn't have been quite cold enough to make the ten scoring positions. Elsewhere, France had its first eligible ice day for a synop station - Langres in the NE (Champagne-Ardennes region ) - but again not cold enough. So with Iceland warming up overnight Austria makes up the numbers. Orenburg has now leapt into top spot in the locations ranking ahead of usually much colder Russian stations. It's a pity that Russian Rainbow isn't posting to know if the sustained cold in Orenburg is unusual.

---